News Leinster council chairman Nicky Brennan has called for a review of the Railway Cup competition in two years time. This would be to assess the success of bringing the finals overseas, which began last year with the hurling decider in Rome and continues next Saturday with the football equivalent to be contested in Paris.
The initiative was devised by Noel Walsh, a long-time advocate of the provincial championships and competition sponsor MD Donnelly.
"I don't have a strong view on the Railway Cup," says Brennan, "but I'm a bit sceptical about its long-term future. I don't begrudge the players a trip abroad but is it serving any overall purpose? I'd like to leave it another couple of years and take another look at it then."
The beleaguered inter-provincials have struggled to remain in existence since declining from their heyday in the 1950s. At one stage Croke Park sub-committee recommended their abolition to ease fixture congestion. Hopes for a revival rest on finding a regular spot in the calendar and this time of the year is quite suitable given that even the club programme is beginning to thin out.
One problem with the overseas venture was articulated by Connacht Council secretary John Prenty in last year's report to annual convention. Prenty questioned whether the money spent on sending the province's hurlers to Rome was being put to the best use.
"That's a reasonable point," says Brennan. "We're the province that has been most exposed by this as we're the only one to feature in both of the finals. It's costly and Rome and Paris aren't the cheapest cities in the world either. We're not complaining but I don't know if these trips can go on indefinitely.
"I wasn't in Rome last year because I was travelling back from Australia but the feedback was very positive. But I think you need to understand the context, which is to encourage the game in the centres we visit."
Leinster Council is - appropriately for the weekend that's coming - twinned with the European Board, one of the GAA's big growth areas, which is having its a.g.m. on Friday evening in the Irish College in Paris.
"We've sent out coaches and referees to run courses in Europe," says Brennan, "and organised a Code of Ethics meeting (concerning safety issues in the coaching of children) in Barcelona."
The efforts are paying off with a special project in Rennes attracting growing interest among local schools in the area. The native involvement is quite strong, particularly in football as hurling is difficult and organised on more of an exhibition basis.
Brennan also notes differences in the expatriates getting involved in Europe and in other overseas areas, like Asia.
"They wouldn't always be people who were involved with the GAA at home. I think the whole Irish diaspora sees more clearly the value in these things when they are abroad."
The European season is organised between February and October and consists of eight weekend round-robin tournaments, hosted in various cities. Peter Higgins is PRO with the Paris Gaels club, which is staging this weekend's Railway Cup final.
"The European Board made an approach about the possibility of hosting the final after hearing about last year's event in Rome," he says.
"It's also the 10th anniversary of our club and at the stage we applied back in June we were European champions although sadly we lost that title to St Colmcille's Munich."
Membership is made up from different sources, according to Higgins. "We have the permanently resident Irish expats population, people who have settled in Paris or are living here on one- or two-year contracts, students on Erasmus scholarships and those just passing through.
"But there are also a good few French players, a Scottish goalkeeper and a Scottish referee, Australians, Swiss, Italian and US. A good few of the French have played rugby or basketball and are well able for it apart from the foot solo, which is the main problem." The club trains and plays on the grounds of rugby club ASPTT just north of Paris.
For Saturday's final the venue is the historic Stade Colombes complex, which staged the 1924 Olympics and France's home rugby internationals up until 1972.
Higgins explains how that came about.
"Ciarán McGill (another of the organisers) has a contact in the trade unions who knows the stadium manager. We sent a letter asking if it would be possible to stage the match there along with a letter from the embassy stating that we were bona fide."
The match has already attracted media coverage and French television is expected to broadcast a report on Sunday morning. L'Equipe, Le Parisienne and Le Metro have also covered the activities of the club.
A warm-up game between Paris Gaels and a European selection will get underway at 12.30 on Saturday afternoon. Admission to the game will cost €10 and tickets will be available at the ground on the day.
Players and officials from both provinces will attend a banquet in the Meridian Hotel on Rue Du Commandant Mouchotte in the Montparnasse area of the city on Saturday evening.
